Ghost of Murder House
by Don't-just-don't
Summary: When Audrey Harmon, daughter to Vivien and Ben, and sister to Violet, goes to the Murder House, her first thought was how great it was. And for the first time she wasn't completely alone. There were people in this house. Nurses, twins, doctors, a boy... Becoming best friends, and more with Tate, was the best thing to happen to her. But there are secrets in this house. Tate/OC.
1. Pilot Part 1

**Yay, this is the beginning to my 'American Horror Story' Saga. Obviously, this is a Tate/OC story, so I hope you enjoy. Its set at the beginning of Season 1, and it's a revision story of if Vivien and Ben had two daughters instead of one, Violet being the younger sister. If you find anything offensive just send me a PM, and I'll take it down. Just remember to leave a review. Thanks!**

Audrey Harmon, along with her sister Violet and parents Ben and Vivien, were in a car driving down the freeway. She was sat across from her sister, behind her mum in the passenger seat, with their little dog Hayley was in the middle.

"The light is different out here," Vivien commented lightly, trying to get herself to enjoy the major change in lifestyle they had just gone through. "It's softer."

"It's called smog," Violet said blankly, a hint of contempt in her voice as she stared disapprovingly out the window. It was quite obvious that she was not happy. Audrey glanced at her, a hint of a grin on her face as she too stared out her own window.

"You should be excited, Vi," Ben said, then joked lightly. "You can stop sneaking cigarettes and just start taking deep breaths."

Audrey stifled a reluctant laugh at this, turning her head to see her sister's reactions, expecting the most random comment. She did not disappoint.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

Ben sighed loudly. "We're almost there."

Violet acted as though she hadn't heard him, moving her head to glare at the back of his seat. "I need to go," She shouted.

"Vi, it's a freeway," Ben said. "Really, where do you want me to pull over? Maybe the Honda next to us has a bathroom or something."

"Bet if the baby had to shit, you'd find somewhere," Violet mumbled, but they all heard her clearly.

"Really?" Vivien said. "Violet, I hate that word, unless I'm saying it."

Audrey gave a real laugh at this, but didn't comment.

"I'm really glad we named you Violet, instead of our second choice," Ben laughed along with his older daughter.

"Which was?" Audrey asked.

"Sunshine."

Ben, Vivien and Audrey all chuckled, amused, while Violet just gave a small smile

"It's funny," Audrey said between laughs. "Come on, you gotta admit it's funny."

o.O

Standing behind her father as he rang the doorbell to their potential house, Audrey was gazing up at the face of the house, her neck craning to get a glimpse of everything. Her gaze was passing over an open window, when she blinked in confusion, again and again and again. Because standing at the window were two woman, dressed in what looked like nurses outfits, staring down at the family, or more particularly, _her._

"I love it," Ben's voice had her turning to him for a moment, but when she turned back to the window, there was no-one. "Don't you love it, hon? I mean, it looks even better than it did online." Audrey shook her head, then continued her examination of the house, or rather mansion it was that big.

"Yeah, it's interesting," Vivien said, not really wanting to give up her full opinion on the house. In truth, she thought it was nice, and she could picture herself living there, but it still gave her a weird vibe.

"Great," Violet muttered. "So we're the Addams Family now."

Ben turned to smile lightly at her, and beckoned forwards with his free hand, "Hey, crabby pants. Come here."

"What are you doing?" Vivien asked.

"Isn't this place amazing?" Ben sighed, and when her sister and mother didn't agree with him, Audrey walked up to his side.

"It's awesome," she said, grinning around the garden once more. She could definitely see herself in this house.

But suddenly, Marcy, the realtor for the house, opened the door and smiled at them.

"Welcome," she said, and led them into the house, showing them around. She pointed out many of the features as they walked down the hall. "It's a classic L.A. Victorian. Built around 1920 by the doctor to the stars at the time. It's just fabulous. These are real Tiffany fixtures. As you can see, the previous owners really loved this place like a child. They restored everything."

"Gay?" Vivien asked, not being able to help herself as the question sprang forwards.

"What do you think?" Marcy scoffed.

Ben, who was staring up at the lights, muttered softly, "Tiffany. Wow."

Audrey wasn't particularly paying attention to anything anyone was saying. She was gazing down the corridors and rooms branching off from the main hallway, and gasped in surprise when she once again spotted people in the rooms. Though now it was a man, with black hair and thick eyebrows, standing in a very feminine fashion, a glass of red wine in his hand as he stared at a painting. As she walked passed, her eyes locked on him, he turned to grin at her, throwing her a friendly wink. She couldn't help herself from smiling back.

"Do you cook?" She was brought out of her thoughts once more as Marcy spoke, directing her question to both Vivien and Audrey.

"Audrey loves baking," Been said, throwing an arm around the mentioned daughters shoulder. "And Viv is a great cook. I got her cooking lessons a few years ago, and she ended up teaching the teacher a few things."

"Cooking lessons... romantic," Marcy said, then changing the subject asked Ben, "Aren't you a psychologist?"

"Psychiatrist. You said something on the phone about there being a study that I could use as a home office? I'm planning on seeing patients here, so I can spend more time with the family."

"How refreshing," Marcy smiled. She led them into the kitchen, a rather large kitchen with a wide island in the middle, and many polished wooden cupboards surrounding it.

Vivien, smiling around the entire room, her face matching that of her daughters, set Hayley down, but she immediately went running outside the kitchen, yapping loudly at heaven knows what.

"Violet, Audrey," Vivien sighed to her daughters. "Would you go see where Hayley went? Thank you."

Grinning at her chance to explore more, Audrey practically skipped out of the room, dragging Violet behind her after the dog. She had hoped that her sister would see the fun in this amazing house. It could be haunted! Was Audrey's thoughts, and she grinned at the idea that it would. More pain and horror.

"What are you yapping at?" Violet shouted at the dog, which was barking loudly at a door. After several unsuccessful attempts, Audrey, who had her hands wrapped around the door handle, finally got it open, to reveal a dark basement.

With Violet following, Audrey tiptoed down the stairs, ducking her head as she walked down to stare around the room. She immediately spotted something, and given it was the third time, she didn't get a jump, as she expected. Looking over at her sister, who was gazing around the room, her eyes always moving straight over the man without even a pause, she stepped down the rest of the stairs.

There was another man now, dressed in an old-fashioned white doctor's suit. His hair looked like it was fashioned from the 1900's, and he was covered in light spots of blood. Audrey stared at him, her eyes curious as he turned to her.

"Has my wife treated you? Are you ready for the procedure?" he asked. Audrey's eyes widened and she took a step back, shaking her head frantically. Good thing Violet was too busy staring at a pile of rubbish to notice. The Doctor sighed, and said, "Too bad." Before walking off into a different room. Audrey would have followed him, had Violet not taken her arm and pulled her back up the stairs.

They moved through the hallways back towards the parents, both thinking the exact same thing, and when they found them in a small library living room area, they said together in unison.

"We'll take it."

o.O

Audrey and her mother were both removing the wallpaper in the Sun room, or rather, Vivien was removing it while Audrey watched with fire in her eyes. Along with another person who, too, was glaring angrily. And that man was Chad, the man she had seen in the sun room the day before, staring at the painting. It seemed that the removal of the wallpaper he had put up was making him rather angry, and it was only because the woman was Audrey's mother that he didn't reveal himself right then and there, to scare the crap out of her and get her to stop. Not that Audrey knew this.

"Whoo!" Vivien gasped, whipping her forearm over her forehead to remove the beads of sweat. Then, from behind both the mother and daughter, a girl's voice sounded, causing them both to scream in shook, startled.

"You're going to die in here."

"Who are you?" Vivien shouted at the girl. "What are you doing? What are you doing here?" But at that moment, an elderly yet still strong woman came into the room.

"Adelaide," she called. "Adelaide. Adelaide. Adelaide, I put on "Dora the Explorer" for you, so you would sit and watch it."

"It was "Go, Diego, Go!" I don't like it," Adelaide protested.

"Oh, brown cartoon characters..." Constance muttered, irritated. "You can't tell the difference."

"Excuse me," Vivien said.

"Hi," Constance smiled.

"Hi."

"I'm Constance," She said, "your neighbour from next door, and this is my girl Adelaide."

"Hello," Audrey said with a smile to the younger girl.

"Go home, Addy, now," Constance said, and after she had run off, added. "That girl is a monster. I love her and I'm a good Christian, but Jesus H. Christ. You know, if they had invented some of those tests a few years ago, I would have..."

"How'd you get into my house?" Vivien asked, getting straight to the point. Audrey herself didn't care for her crapping on.

"You left your back door open. Although I have to tell you, Addie will always find a way in. She has a bug up her ass about this house, always has." Constance moved around the room, touching almost everything. "You have the loveliest things."

"Thank you," Vivien said blankly.

"Have you got a dog?"

Surprised, Vivien nodded, and stuttered, "I-I do have a dog, yes."

"I run a little kennel out of my house, doggy day care kind of a thing," Constance explained.

"How nice."

"Well, I prefer purebreds. I adore the beauty of a long line, but there's always room in my home for mongrels." Constance suddenly stopped, and stepped forwards towards Vivien. "Oh... Oh, my. Look at those earrings. Are those real diamonds? Not that Home Shopping shit."

"No."

"I used to have diamonds like that. Different pair for every day of the week. Did your husband give them to you?" Constance asked.

"He did." Vivien threw her a fake smile.

"Hmm?" Constance sighed.

"Mm-hmm."

"They always do when you're young and pretty," Constance said, and both Audrey and her mother looked at her in confusion.

"Are you Southern?" Audrey spoke up, drawing the attention from her mother and changing the subject. She had noticed the dislike in Chad's eyes when Constance had walked into the room, and had immediately gotten a bad feeling about the woman.

"Proud Virginian. The Old Dominion, born and bred. Thank you for noticing," Constance smiled at the young woman. "I came out here to be a movie star. Did the screen tests and everything, but... nudity was the big deal then. The morals were just beginning to collapse, and I wasn't about to have my green pasture flashed 70 feet high for every man, woman, and child to see, so I took that little butterfly of a dream and put it in a jar on the shelf, and, uh, soon after, came the Mongoloid and, of course, I couldn't work after that."

Vivien, noticing the growing discomfort on her daughters face, called out, "It has been so great to meet you. I just... you know, I wasn't prepared for guests at all."

"I'm gone," Constance said, waving her hand. "Oh, I brought you this. You know, a little, um, housewarming." She handed over a little antique box, made of wood.

"Thank you," Vivien smiled.

"Addie wanted to bake you a pie, but she tends to spit in the cooking, so I thought this would be better. Help get rid of some of that bad juju. I don't remember your name."

"Right, no, I never got a chance to tell you my name," Vivien said.

"Oh."

"My name is Vivien Harmon," Vivien said, and putting an arm around her daughter's shoulders, added, "And this is Audrey, my daughter.

Constance smiled. "Anyway... relax and enjoy. Let me know if you need any help with that pup."

"Will do."

"I'm glad you're getting rid of that wallpaper," Constance said, and both Chad and Audrey scoffed, too quietly to be heard by anyone but themselves. "I thought those people were supposed to be stylish. It's sage… for cleansing the spirits in the house. Too many bad memories in here."

o.O

Audrey, who had gotten bored of watching her mum take down the wallpaper, slowly made her way up to her room, Chad having given her another nod and a smile before walking off around a corner and disappearing.

She had reached her messy room, only her furniture in place, to see many boxes piled around the room. She really couldn't give s single fuck about cleaning up and unpacking, but knowing that the longer she left it, the more she wouldn't want to do it, she got to work opening the lot of them.

First, she started with finally putting the bed sheets on her bed, putting pillowcases over the pillows and the duvet on her bed. Finishing with that, she moved on to pulling out many books, placing them on the bookshelves in any random order. All of her favourites were there, J.K Rowling, Stephen King, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others.

She moved on from that to setting out her favourite things. She pulled out four stands from a box, put one by her bedside table and two in the corner of the room by the power point with two amplifiers. Those were her guitars, one electric and one acoustic. In the stand by her bed, she put a saxophone. And in the final stand, she set down her Flute. On the other side of the room, already in place was a Spinet Piano, very old but in great condition. And at the end of her bed on a bench, she put her Keyboard. On one of her two double dressers, she placed her Violin case, the Violin safely inside. Of the two Harmon Children, only Audrey had inherited the love of music from their mother.

After that, she threw her clothes into the dressers, hung some frames from the walls, along with a dart board, and then collapsed on her bed. She looked at her wrist watch. 2:47 PM. She had been working for an hour and a half. Great. So passing the time until Violet got home from school, Audrey pulled a random book down from her bookcase, and looked at the cover to find one of her favourites, _Murder on the Orient Express _by Agatha Christie.

But she didn't get a chance to read it before she glanced up and nearly shrieked in shook. Standing directly across the room from her were two red headed twins, grinning at her. But she couldn't help but stare at the slashes across their necks and faces.

She stared for a moment, before asking simply, "Are you more of the people my family can't see?"

They still grinned, but the one with the red shirt took a step forwards, and pulled a _yoyo _from his pocket, playing with it while the other twin started poking around her room.

"What are you doing?" she asked them, relaxing on her bed. After she had gotten over the initial shock, it was easy to ignore the cuts all over their faces.

"Lookin'" The boy in green said.

"What're your names?"

The boy in red didn't look up as he said, "Bryan."

"Troy."

She smiled, happy to get the names from them, and said, "I'm Audrey."

"We know." They spoke in unison, much like Violet and herself at times. But Bryan asked straight after, "You like pranks?"

Audrey had to laugh at this, and told them, "I can't even remember how many houses I've egged. I'd say at least 35. And that's just in the past year. Never been caught as well." Troy and Bryan looked at each other, excitement dancing in their eyes at the chance of having a fresh mind for prank ideas.

"One time I popped the tyres on the car of this girl from my school. She was bullying my sister, so I grabbed a nail gun, one for the _really _big nails, stole it from the workshop. You should have seen her, she wouldn't stop crying." Troy and Bryan chuckled lightly, but they were interrupted as a loud shriek came from upstairs.

Audrey was frozen for barely a second before she was on her feet, running down the halls towards the attic. She was on the top floor, there was nowhere else it could've come from.

She climbed quickly up the steps, immediately spotting her parents. And it seemed Violet had only just arrived before her, because she gasped.

"What happened?" Then evidently, she spotted a black rubber suit hanging from the roof. "Holy shit."

Vivien sighed in exasperation and said, "Let's get rid of it. Come on, let's go downstairs. Come on. Watch the steps."

Audrey took one revolted look at it and rushed down after her mother.

**So that is the first Chapter finished. Don't forget to leave a review, or if you have any questions just PM me. Thanks for reading. **


	2. Pilot Part 2

**Hello again, and I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Thanks for that as well. If you like this story please leave a review because I love it when I get those because I know it's not just a waste of my time, me writing these stories. Also, check out some of the other stories that I've written on my profile Thanks again!**

**(Tate POV)**

Tate was sitting in the office on the couch, across from Ben. An easy smile was on his face, for the first time in a long time he felt a small seed of happiness inside of him. Which had started the moment he had laid eyes on _her. _He couldn't not stare at her, her pale skin, her brown eyes, her pink lips, her _brown _hair. She was completely gorgeous. _Audrey._

"So, Tate, these fantasies started two years ago, three years ago, when?" Ben asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. Tate blinked, his hands clasped together between his knees.

"Two years ago," he answered. "It's always the same. It starts the same way."

"How? Tell me."

"…I prepare for the noble war."

_A tattooed Tate was walking down a school's corridor._

"I'm calm, I know the secret, I know what's coming, and I know no one can stop me, including myself," Tate continued.

"Do you target people who have been mean to you or unkind?" Ben asked.

"I kill people I like."

_Tate entered a studying room and all the students raise their head._

_"__Can I help you?" The teacher asked._

"Some of them beg for their life," Tate said. "I don't feel sad. I don't feel anything. It's a filthy world we live in. It's a filthy goddamn helpless world, and honestly, I feel like I'm helping to take them away from the shit and the piss and the vomit that run in the streets. I'm helping to take them somewhere clean and kind. There's something about all that blood, man. I drown in it. The Indians believed that blood holds all the bad spirits, and once a month in ceremonies they would cut themselves to let the spirits go free. There's something smart about that. Very smart. I like that." He looked Ben in the eyes. "You think I'm crazy?"

Ben stared at him for a moment, a small smile growing on his face. "No. I think you're creative. And I think you have a lot of pain you're not dealing with."

"My mother's probably worried about me, right?" Tate asked.

"I'm sure she is," Ben agreed.

"She's a cocksucker." Ben looked up in surprise at his comment. "I mean, literally, a cocksucker. She used to suck the guy off next-door, all the time. My dad found out, and he left. He left me alone with a cocksucker. Can you imagine? How sick is that?"

He said the first comforting thing that came to mind, and said calmly, "I've heard a lot worse."

Tate looked at him with interest. "Cool. Can you tell me some? I like stories."

"No. I can't." Ben shook his head.

"The world is a filthy place. It's a filthy goddamn horror show. There's so much pain, you know? There's so much."

o.O

**(Audrey POV)**

The thing with being able to see people that others can't is trying to hide it. Since the first day they had gotten here, Audrey had to constantly make sure she didn't talk to these people in front of her family. She had met a few more people since the twins, including the nurses, officially, Patrick, Chad's boyfriend, and a badly burnt woman named Lorraine.

Currently, Audrey was standing by her bedroom window, the one closest to the door, her Violin in hand as she played a melody, a solo part of Bach's violin concerto no 1 in a minor, BWV 1041. Her bow glided smoothly over the strings, her hand moving slightly with her arms as she swayed, her arms hung loosely as they floated. (**AN: Here is a Link to the video. watch?v=biPFXu2owes****thanks)**

She slowly came to a finish, her chin still resting in the chin rest, her bow still held mid-air. Because a feeling had just crept over her, a feeling that she was being watched, and she spun around quickly towards the door.

A man, looking around her age, was leaning on her doorframe, his arms crossed with a small grin on his face. He hadn't seemed to notice she was finished, his eyes were closed as though he were savouring the moment.

"Are you another one?"

Her voice broke him out of his trance, and his eyes flew open, though the smile remained. He continued to grin at her, while she waited for an answer, and when he didn't she asked again.

"Are you another one?"

He cocked his head at her, as though he had no idea what she was talking about. "Another what?" he asked.

She frowned at him. "Another ghost person. I figure they're ghosts, because my family can't see them. Maybe I'm just crazy." He chuckled and shook his head, stepping into her room despite the fact that they had just met.

"You're not crazy. Well, maybe you are, but you're not seeing things." He stopped only a metre from her. "And to answer you're earlier question; Yes, I am. I am another one."

Audrey stared at him for a moment, then grinned. "Cool." Turning, she placed her Violin carefully in its case, then the bow, Tate watching her every move with hungry eyes that disappeared the moment she turned back to face him. "You know, I've met a lot of you. Chad, Patrick, Gladys, Marie, Lorraine, Troy, Bryan…" She stopped, frowning at him. "Who are you?"

Tate smiled, dropping his eyes to the ground for a moment before holding a hand out to her. "Tate."

"Audrey." She took his offered hand, not knowing of the thrill that shot threw him at her touch. She smiled kindly, and asked, "So how come this is the first time I'm seeing you?"

"Umm…I was with your dad. He was giving me a therapy session. Ghosts need that too you know." Audrey laughed softly at that, and Tate stopped breathing for just a second at the sound, his dead heart beating crazily. But it started up again, very slowly, as she pulled her hand from his and moved over to her bed, flopping down.

"You better tell those twins that they should get their butts over here. How am I meant to plan a prank without their help?" She stated, throwing herself down with a groan. Tate grinned, amused by her irritation, though not because he enjoyed her pain but because the look on her face was incredibly adorable.

"I'll make sure of it."

Audrey smiled happily, and knowing that he should leave (But not wanting to) Tate waved to her, and disappeared around the corner, leaving Audrey staring after him with a small smile and a soft glimmer in her eyes.

o.O

Standing outside helping her mother hang sheets on the closing line, Audrey glanced up at the house, spotting Tate in one of the windows. He smiled down at her and waved, which she returned. Ever since the day she had met him, they had hung out, talking, Audrey playing for him, or just lying together on the floor. They didn't even need conversation to feel comfortable around each other. And she had to admit, he was rather handsome….

Much to their surprise, an old woman dressed in black, Moira, approached them, appearing suddenly around a bush as though she had been waiting there for a long while.

"Can I help you?" Vivien asked. Much like with Constance, Audrey stayed silent, opting for observing rather than speaking.

"I'm Moira O'Hara. I'm the housekeeper," The woman addressed herself, coming to a stand-still with her hands folded neatly.

"Oh," Vivien exclaimed, surprise evident in her voice. "I didn't know the place came with a housekeeper."

Ignoring this, Moira asked gently, gesturing to the sheets, "Why are you hanging your sheets with a perfectly good electric dryer inside?"

Vivien smiled at the question. "I don't like all those chemicals in the fabric softeners, so I just like to do it naturally."

Moira smiled, and took another step forwards. "I work Monday through Thursday. Thanksgiving on, Christmas off."

"Um..." Vivien said.

"That was the deal with the last fellows," Moira explained, smiling a sad smile.

Vivien seemed to catch her tongue, because she said, sounding a tad sheepish, "I'm sorry. I'm just not sure that we're gonna need a housekeeper."

"What have you been using to clean the floorboards?" Moira asked.

Vivien frowned at the question. "Murphy's Oil Soap."

"Oh, no. White vinegar. Oil soap kills the wood."

"I like that better," Vivien said, lifting a hand in approval. "It's more natural."

Moira smiled gently back, before looking over the house. The expression in her one good eyes was of sadness, and pain. "Have you ever owned a house this old before?" she asked.

"No."

"It has a personality, feelings. Mistreat it, and you'll regret it. May I come in? My cab's left, and I'd like to call another.

"Oh, ah, sure," Vivien mumbled, and gestured towards the front door, leaving Audrey to finish the rest of the laundry. Sighing at the job that was about to take twice as long, she picked up another sheet and threw it over the line, smoothing out the creases before pegging it on.

She reached down for another sheet, before stopping, her hand inches away from it. Along with another's, a hand that _wasn't_ hers. She didn't look up, not yet, instead holding in that position for a moment, trying to decide which one of her 'ghost friends' it was gonna be.

She took a quick peak, wondering if it was someone knew. But she only ended up smiling slightly as she looked up and saw Tate grinning that cutie grin at her, the one that made his dimples so _obvious._

"Hey, Sweets," She said_, _using the pet name she had for anyone she liked that wasn't family.

"Hey, babe," he shot back, and Audrey gave a breezy laugh, rolling her eyes as she tugged another sheet from the basket and hung it on the clothes line. He moved to help her, clipping to pegs on as she smoothed out the wrinkles. He grabbed the last once before she could, smoothed it out, and pinned it on faster than she thought possible, before picking the basket up.

Audrey grinned, and hooked her arm through his other, leading him towards the house. "Such a gentleman," she smiled brightly as they walked, resting her head on his shoulder. He looked down out of the corner of his eye, a soft and almost _loving _smile on his face.

Reaching the back door, Tate stopped, his smile gone as he glanced down at her and said, "I have an appointment with your dad." Audrey smiled, knowing he had to leave her, and asked him.

"Find me after, yeah?" He nodded, leant down to press a lingering kiss to her forehead, before disappearing lightning fast, but not before handing the basket over to her. She held it clutched in her fingers, her heart beating fast.

"What was that about?" Violet's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and Audrey whipped around to glare playfully at her.

"Shut your mouth," she said, then held up a finger. "Don't tell dad."

Violet scoffed. "As if I ever would." Audrey smiled at that, knowing she was safe, and sauntered off with an extra skip in her step.

o.O

**(Tate POV)**

In the office with Ben, Tate sat on the couch once more, half his mind on the session and the other half on Audrey, where he would much rather want to be. On top of Audrey.

"You mind if I tape this?" Ben asked, holding up a mini recorder. Tate shook his head.

"No."

"You taking your medications?" Ben asked.

"Yes."

Ben nodded, happy at this. "Any side effects?" he asked.

"I was taking them at night, but they kept me up," Tate said with a small smile.

"And what did you do?" Ben asked.

"Started taking them in the morning." So simple, right?

"Light sensitivity is pretty common," Ben said.

"Maybe," Tate said simply. "Yeah, I think so."

Ben smiled and started to say, "When I was in medical school, they brought in this CIA interrogator to help us better identify who was lying. This guy was, like, six foot, 50, crew cut. He must have been one hell of an interrogator, because I'll tell you something. I'd be terrified to lie to him."

"You think I'm lying to you?" Tate asked with mock sadness.

"Light sensitivity isn't a side effect of Lexapro, Tate," Ben said gently.

"So you lied to me."

"What is important... that is if you're telling the truth about doing these things to your classmates. If you were actually a danger to society, the law says that I have to report you to the police."

"Did you call them?" Tate asked immediately.

"Not yet. I've treated psychotics before, and people with the right combination of chemical imbalance and psychological damage that can't be reached."

Tate stared at him sadly. "You think that's me?" He asked. "You think I can't get better?"

Been scoffed. "You? You kidding me? You're hopeless."

Tate stared at him as though he were actually hurt, before they both started laughing.

"Everybody can get better, Tate," Ben said reassuringly, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder. "Everybody. I just think you're scared. Of what, I'm not sure yet. Maybe rejection. Certainly because of what your father did to you."

"I was afraid my big dick wouldn't work."

Okay. Random. Ben looked at him in confusion. "What?"

Tate laughed, and explained, "Yeah, that's why I didn't take the meds."

"Tate," Ben said, suddenly serious.

"I was afraid my dick wouldn't work. Because I met someone…" He thought to upstairs, where he knew Audrey would be playing one of her instruments, or reading another book. Yes, he has definitely met someone.

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Pilot Part 3

**Thanks for reading again guys, and for the follows and favourites a few of you did. I'm really hoping you like this, which would obviously be why you are reading it…. Anyway, thanks again. And remember to review if you like it or have any questions. **

"This one I did after my dad left. I was ten, I think."

Tate's outstretched arm was held tight in Audrey's grip, her eyes burning as the moved over the many scars marring his soft skin. Her thumb smoothed over the worst of them, a large cluster of the faded pink jagged lines so close together it just looked like one big patch of scarred skin.

"You don't do it anymore, right?" She asked him carefully, her thumb going back and forth soothingly. Tate's eyes were locked on her hands, focusing on the sensation of her touching him, but at her question, he slowly looked up at her. And he was completely surprised by what he saw.

Her brown eyes, usually so bright, were cast down in sadness, glassy with unshed tears that she was too stubborn to let fall. He hadn't noticed before, but her hands were trembling on his arm. She was breathing softly but deeply, as though she were trying to keep a sob from escaping, and she was blinking rapidly to clear her eyes of the unwanted tears.

"No, I don't. Not for years," He answered her softly, and carefully took her arm from grip to raise it to her cheek. He softly caressed her smooth skin, his heart beating erratically as she leant in closer to his touch.

"I'm sorry," he added. "I didn't mean to make you upset." It was true, the guilt weighed down on him heavily, his eyes too, turning sad with hers.

"No, it's not your fault," she breathed a shaky laugh, lifting her face from his hand and flipping her Chocolate hair over her shoulder. "I just…I don't like the thought of you hurting yourself. It hurts _me, _to _think_ about it."

Tate smiled softly and moved forwards so he was by her side, instead of in front of her. He wrapped an arm tenderly around her small shoulders, pulling her against his side so she was nestled into the crook of her body, and pressed a small kiss to her hair. She sighed deeply, and turned her face in so it was buried in his chest.

"Why did you move here?" Tate asked, getting off the topic to make her feel better. Just the look of her so sad was making him guilty.

Audrey laughed without humour. "The stories to long. You don't want to hear it." She got up from his side and moved across the room, sitting down at the piano bench. She pressed a few keys down, absent-mindedly.

"Tell me?" He asked her.

Audrey sighed, and got back to her feet, moving back over to sit in front of him, so she could look at him face on.

"A couple months ago, I was going through a hard time. Ever since I could think, I had this idea, in my head…This piercing notion that _life _was completely _meaningless. _And because of that, I ended up taking the entire A-Z of the Periodic table. You ever been so depressed that you feel like every nerve ending in your body is exposed, red and raw? Well, when you feel like that _all the time_, you think, why not get fucked up beyond belief. I thought if I took enough chemicals I could dampen down those feelings."

She looked up at Tate, expecting him to be staring at her with disgust, but was still caught off guard when he reached out and grabbed her arms, yanking her gently closer so he could wrap his arms around her shoulders and hide her against his chest.

"Don't," He whispered against her, "Please, don't feel like that ever again. Promise me? You don't need to feel like that…now that I'm here." Audrey sighed, and pulled back from him, only enough so she could look easily into his eyes.

"I was fine though. Didn't die, which was a surprise because of all the crap I had put in my veins. But when mum found me stumbling through the backyard, blood all over my hands, she completely flipped out, stressed for weeks." Audrey finally felt the tears flood over, pouring down the curve of her cheek. "It was _my fault. _If it wasn't for me they wouldn't have lost the baby, and dad wouldn't have cheated on her!"

Tate stared at her with shocked eyes, and only managed to get out, "He did that? That's horrible. If you love someone, you should never hurt them... never."

He gently lifted her off him, walked over to the chalk board she had hung in her room and wrote 'TAINT' on its surface, before coming back over, gently touching her wrists.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, and lifted her forearm to his lips. He brushed his lips over her arm once, over the small purple bruise like dots where she had inserted the needles.

Audrey looked at him, and asked, "Why are you seeing my dad?"

Tate stared steadily back. "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to. You're smarter than that."

Audrey pulled her arm out of his grip, got to her feet, and sat back over at the piano, this time actually playing a song. She was halfway through playing La Campanella, and had almost reached the finale, when her door banged open and her father shouted.

"What are you doing in here?" at Tate.

"Just listening to music, Dad," Audrey answered, without glancing up from her Piano. She was still going at it, not allowing anything to tear her from the moment.

Ben glanced at her, fighting between feeling impressed with her music and angry at allowing Tate into her room, and said, "You need to leave, Tate. I'm sorry. He shouldn't be in here, and I think you know that... please."

Tate got to his feet, threw a soft smile in Audrey's direction, and then when passing Ben out the door, asked, "What's that thing you think I'm afraid of? Fear of rejection?"

"Stay away from him," Ben said, pointing a finger at his daughter. She just pressed on the keys harder, acting as though she couldn't hear him, and pretending she couldn't hear Tate running down the stairs shouting.

"No! Bullet, bullet, bullet!"

o.O

"I hate her! I just want to kill her!" Violet ranted to Audrey, not really paying attention to the fact that Tate was lying beside her sister on the bed in Audrey's room.

"Then do it!" Tate said comfortably. "One less high school bitch making the lives of the less fortunate more tolerable is, in my opinion, a public service. Look, you want her to leave you alone? Stop making your life a living hell? Short of killing her, there's only one solution. Scare her. Make her afraid of you. It's the only thing bullies react to."

Audrey looked to the side at him, and with an interested grin, asked, "How?"

"It's simple," Tate said to her, then turned back to Violet. "You simply walk up to her and say, "Here's the deal: I need you to stop harassing me. I got what you want. Drugs. Come to my house tomorrow for your free sample. I'm a dealer, and a good one. I got the best shit in town."

Violet shook her head. "She's a cokehead. I don't have coke."

"You won't need any. It's just an excuse to get her here. After that, she'll leave empty-handed and terrified. And I promise you, you'll never be bothered by her again."

"How am I going to terrify her?" Violet asked.

"Helter-skelter! That's where I come in."

o.O

Audrey and Violet led Leah down into the darkness of the basement, the two siblings completely at ease while the other girl was jumping edgily.

"What's down there?" Leah asked cautiously, trying to make out the shapes in the dark of the basement.

"Our stash," Violet answered. "Parents toss our room's every week."

"If you're screwing with me..." Leah left the threat unfinished.

"It's just the basement," Audrey scoffed. "I found the best hiding place. This is great shit, too. All the coke coming to the U.S. from Central America smuggled in on lobster boats in Gloucester. I used to show my boobs to the lobstermen in return for a key or two before they cut it." Violet smirked at her sister's quick lie, along with the hidden boy ghost in the room.

"So where is it?" Leak asked.

"Right around the corner," Violet answered. "To the right."

Leah flinched in disgust. "This place is a dump."

Violet just shook her head, saying, "Oh, shut up."

"I want my goddamn drugs."

"Then keep going," Audrey hissed, and finally found the light switch. She flicked it on, the light flooding the room to reveal Tate sitting on a chair in the middle of the floor.

"So this is the coke whore," he asked, and Leah glared at him.

"Who the hell are you?" she growled in a bitchy voice.

"Get the lights."

Violet turned off the lights, but all they did was start flickering. Audrey heard a crazy laugh from Tate, and gasped in shock.

"What is going on?!" Leah was yelling. "What is going on?!"

Both Audrey and Violet shrieked in shock and horror as they caught sight of the Infantata, it's creepy hands and terrible mouth open wide.

Tate was shouting in glee, "Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" and the lights flickered on for a brief second, just in time for Audrey to see Tate jump on Leah, who was screaming, and pin her to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Leah shrieked. "Get off of me!"

At some point between the flashing lights, the Infantata took Tate's place onto Leah, while Tate appeared behind Violet and Audrey, the two girls screaming too. Audrey whipped around to stare at Tate, her eyes widening in horror at the skeleton tattoo that was all over his face. He wasn't smiling anymore, and his hair was slicked back smoothly. She didn't really get enough time to appreciate how handsome he actually looked, despite the crazy.

"Get off me!" Leah shrieked again, and Audrey finally turned back to her. "Get off me!"

"Stop! Stop!" Violet screamed. "Please, stop!" The siblings screamed and whimpered, seeing the Infantata's hand slowly approaching Leah's face.

"Mommy...?" Leah whimpered.

Leah shrieked once more as the Infantata started slashing her face, and Audrey felt rather than heard Violet finally stumble back and turn the light on. Leah was laying on the floor, the Infantata is nowhere to be found. Tate was back on his rocking chair, a weird grin on his face.

Leah took once glance at Tate, then jumped to her feet, racing up the stairs.

"Will you wait?!" Violet shouted, and with one dirty look at Tate, followed.

Tate smiled at Audrey and said casually, "I don't think she'll be bothering her anymore."

He didn't get the reaction he expected. "What was that?!" Audrey yelled, her eyes wide in horror as she pictured the Infantata's horrible blood soaked mouth.

Tate frowned in confusion at her. "What are you talking about? She hit me in the balls and got away. She must have run into a wall or something."

"No, I saw something!" Audrey protested.

"What are you talk...?" Tate trailed off, pretending to act innocent, then added, "Audrey, you're talking crazy. This is cool. We showed that bitch."

Audrey shook her head at him, stumbling back out of his way. "Get out! I never want to see you again!" She screamed, and when he moved forwards to gently take her arms, she pushed against his chest, before turning and racing up the stairs.

She heard him shout after her with pain, denial and rejection in his voice.

"I thought you weren't afraid of anything!"

**Next Chapter should be uploaded soon guys, and also thanks to those two people that reviewed! **


	4. Home Invasion Part 1

**Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and thanks to all the people that have followed, favourited, or reviewed. It's you guys that are keeping me writing.**

**(Tate POV)**

Things were silent in Ben's study, Ben just writing down some notes while Tate sat staring at a distant wall. But the silence was broken when a phone started buzzing loudly. Ben smiled in embarrassment, and said, "Sorry." As he clicked the phone off.

Tate ignored him, instead going off on his own thoughts. "So, what do shrinks think about when a wildly brilliant patient doesn't talk to punish said psychiatrist?" He smiled. "I bet you think about sex."

Ben looked evenly at him. "Do you think about sex a lot?" he asked.

"I think about one girl in particular," Tate answered, not modest at all as he announced, "Your daughter, Audrey. I jerk off thinking about her. A lot."

Ben shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not comfortable with you talking about my daughter, Tate."

"Don't you want to know what I do to her?" Tate asked, the look on his face like that of a child's. He smiled, and picturing it in his head as he spoke, said, "How I lay her on the bed and I caress her soft skin, make her purr like a little kitten. She's a virgin. They get wet so easily. Most girls aren't virgin's at 18. I like that she is."

Trying to get professional again, Ben asked, rubbing a hand over his forehead, "Do you turn to these thoughts to comfort yourself in times of stress?"

"Actually, yes," Tate said, nodding. "I jerk off a lot to make the visions to go away. Blood and the carnage. I want the thoughts to go away, and you're not helping me."

"Well, we've only been working together a few weeks now."

"Well, you're sexual, right?" Tate asked, and when Ben didn't answer, he added, "Audrey told me about the affair with the girl in Boston. Not much older than her, she said."

"Our time is up," Ben said.

"Bullshit," Tate argued forcefully. "I don't accept that."

"Our time is up for today, Tate."

o.O

Audrey and Violet sat on either side of Leah, the girl with a cigarette in her mouth. She shakily took a puff, looking around anxiously.

"I thought you hated smoking," Violet commented dryly. Leah just scoffed.

"I've taken it up," she said. "I can't sleep. I'm terrified of everything. What attacked me wasn't human."

"It was Tate," Audrey stated, shaking her head in denial.

"No, you saw that other thing, too," Leah protested, flicking the butt of her fag to get off the burnt bits.

"He was trying to freak us all out," Violet said, trying to agree with her sister. "What'd you tell your parents?"

"Don't worry," Leah sighed. "I told them I got attacked by some chola on Melrose who wanted my Chanel. Couldn't tell them I went to your house to score coke, could I? I had to file a fake police report and everything."

"How deep are the cuts?" Violet asked.

"Deep," answered Leah, and she shuddered. "God, and I-I can't stop thinking about that mouth."

"It was a mask," Audrey told her. "He was purposely trying to terrorize you." Then looking at the hat commented lightly, "That hat doesn't look like you."

"It serves a purpose," Leah said, staring forwards at the scatters on the ring. "Look. My hair is turning white from fear. Yeah, I read on the Internet that's possible." Then randomly she asked, "Do you believe in the devil?"

Both Audrey and Violet shook their heads, "No."

"I do," Leah sighed. "I've looked into his eyes."

o.O

Later that night, after Audrey and Violet had gotten home from their talk with Leah, she found herself lying, bored out of her mind, on her bed, her fingers tugging at the sheets just to have something to do. Her dad had just gone to Boston for a few days, saying he was visiting a patient. Audrey wasn't quite sure if she believed him.

But what she really was thinking about was Tate. She hadn't seen him since the night he had scared Leah, and them in the process. She just couldn't stop picturing the look on his face when she told him she never wanted to see him again, and the sound of his voice when he screamed after her, "I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

The guilt weighed heavily on her chest, not allowing her to focus on anything. Which was why she wasn't reading or playing her instruments. Whenever she finally got her attention on something else, his face popped up in her mind, catching her off guard. She couldn't stop thinking about him, and it was _infuriating. _It wasn't helping either that she had met another ghost friend, a woman by the name of Nora Montgomery.

Audrey was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when there was a knock on her door, and her mother slowly opened them. Spotting her daughter sitting relaxed on the bed, Vivien smiled and came to sit by her.

"Hey, sweetie," she said softly to her, sitting down by her side. Audrey glanced over at her, not saying a word as she waited for her to talk. Vivien continued, "I just spoke to Violet. I thought we could have a girl's night because dad's not here, but she didn't seem interested. Thought I'd ask you instead."

Audrey didn't respond for a moment, before smiling slightly. "You're pregnant aren't you? You have that healthy baby glow thing that people bullshit about."

Vivien stared blankly at her for a moment, before smiling. "You took it a lot better than Violet did. She told me I was getting fat around my face."

Audrey smiled, then giggled, then ended up full on laughing with her mother. The two woman just sat there giggling for a moment, when they finally pulled themselves together.

"I'll watch a movie with you," Audrey said softly, grabbing her mum's hand. Vivien smiled gratefully, stroked her daughter's soft face, and stood, telling her she'd get some snacks ready and call her down once she'd got the movie started.

Audrey stared for a long while at the closed door. She didn't know if she even wanted to spend time with Vivien, but at this moment, the thing that would be safest for her and her baby was knowing at least one of her daughters didn't hate her.

She assumed it would be at least ten minutes before Vivien called her, so Audrey got to her feet and changed out of her dress from the day into a pair of white bat leggings and a baggy black shirt. She finished pulling the shirt over her head, and her hand was on the handle to her door, when a hand clamped down over her mouth, and her muffled scream of terror rang out.

"Shh, Shh, it's okay," the person flipped her around so she was facing them. "It's just me. Tate."

Audrey sighed in relief, before a glare lit up her face and she bit the hand still covering her mouth. He grunted and pulled his hand away, glaring at her for barely a second before sighing and saying softly:

"I wouldn't go down there if I were you." Audrey looked at him in confusion, and opened her mouth to ask why. That was when her mum shouted up the stairs.

"Audrey! - Violet! Answer me!-" The fear in her voice was obvious, and Audrey stared in worry at Tate for a few seconds before she turned and dashed down the stairs.

Violet was already there, asking, "How am I supposed to finish my homework if you keep interrupting? What's the matter?" It seemed she had noticed her mum's expression.

"Where's your phone?" Vivien asked, "Where are your phones?

"In my bag upstairs," Violet said, as Audrey answered, "On the kitchen counter."

Vivien stared at Audrey for a moment, before stuttering to Violet, "Go, go, go, go, go get it. Dial 911."

"Who's that?" Violet asked.

"Just go into your room, lock the door, don't come out until I tell you. Now!" Violet turned and rushed up the stairs, while Audrey just followed after her mother towards the front door.

"Stop it!" Vivien shouted at the door, picking up a little wooden vase along the way. "I am not letting you inside this house! I have called police are on their way!"

She looked through the peep-whole, just as a hand closed over Audrey's mouth and she was dragged, kicking and screaming, towards the music room. Vivien too, had been captured. And soon Violet was dragged forwards to their side.

The two people deposited them in the middle of the floor, one of them going off to grab chairs while the others stayed, pointing knives at them in a threatening manner. The other came back with two chairs, and pushed Vivien into one of them, trying her up with white sheets. Another of them grabbed Audrey and pushed her into the other chair, doing the same as they had with Vivien.

"I have money," Vivien told them desperately, as they stepped back to stare at the three women. "Please just take anything."

"We're not here to rob you," The girl from the front door, Fiona said, then added to her accomplices, "Masks off. The transcript was very clear. The nurses saw R. Franklin; he had nothing to hide. 12 minutes." Fiona looked at her watch.

"Then the fun begins," Bianca smirked, and the other one, the man, Dallas, laughed.

"I have a surprise for you guys," Fiona said, pulling a white cloth wrapped around something from her bag. She started unwrapping it, to reveal a small green pot.

"No way," Dallas grinned, looking at Fiona.

"I got it on eBay. Authenticated. It's the one he used to bash Maria."

"Let me see it," Dallas ordered, taking it from her to examine it. "Holy shit. Can feel the energy in this. This is bitchin'."

"Who goes first?" Bianca suddenly asked. "Which one is Gladys?"

Fiona, who was obviously the ringleader, pointed her knife from Vivien, to Audrey, to Violet. Seeing the answer, Bianca threw a white outfit at her, bur Violet threw it back, shouting:

"Screw you, psycho! I'm not putting this on."

"You have to," Bianca said with a crazed glare. "Everything has to be perfect."

When Violet still refused to move, Dallas moved forwards, shouting, "Take your clothes off!" as he slashed his knife at her shirt.

"No!" Audrey screamed, while Vivien shrieked.

"Put it on me!"

"Mom!" Violet protested.

Fiona glanced between the three of them, or mainly, Vivien and Violet. "Oh, you'll both be wearing uniforms," she said to the two of them. "R. Franklin hated nurses. He had a bad experience with the mercury in a broken thermometer. That's why he took Gladys upstairs and drowned her in the tub. And you, Maria- he saved you for last.

"R. Franklin was the first," Bianca muttered. "Before Manson. He changed the culture. We're paying tribute to him."

"We're not going to be part of your re-enactment," Vivien hissed calmly.

Fiona threw the sheets back at Violet, saying, "Put this on. You won't like it if I have to make you." Sensing what would happen if she didn't, Violet got slowly to her feet. She stood still for a moment as Fiona came close to her face, then threw the sheets, heading butting Fiona before racing off. Audrey stuck her legs out as Dallas tried to run after her, tripping him, while Bianca ran off after Violet. Vivien was trying to stop Fiona from getting near her. Fiona tipped back Vivien's chair, causing her to smash to the ground, then back handed Audrey across the face.

Dallas scrambled away from the girls kicking feet, just as Fiona smirked and said, about Audrey, "We don't need this one. You can do what you want with her."

Dallas grinned, "Neat." Fiona smirked back, before moving up the stairs after Bianca.

Dallas smiled, and started walking around the room, observing. "Some serious art, man," he commented. "Why are you trying to cover it up?"

"Decided I didn't like it," Vivien muttered, as Dallas came around and lifted her chair back off of the ground.

"It's all over, Mama," Dallas mocked. "Nobody's coming to help you."

"You don't have to, you know," Vivien said, really starting to panic. She looked over at Audrey who was glaring hatefully at the man. "You could just stop it."

"Oh, but I don't want to, silly."

Audrey looked up, having a clear view of Adelaide standing by the dining table. It seemed Vivien had spotted her to, because she said, giving very strong hints.

"Well, I don't think you're gonna kill me tonight, 'cause I think that someone is going to stop this, and they're gonna get help, and you all are gonna fry."

"Brutal."

Audrey flinched as he came back up to her, and ran the tip of his knife along her jaw line, getting dangerously close to her lips. He stopped right over the single freckle on her cheek, then flicked the knife out, causing a small cut to spring up. Beads of blood welled forwards instantly. And it was at that point that Audrey glanced to the side and saw the twins, Troy and Bryan, standing there, murder in their eyes as they glowered at Dallas. Oh he had it comin' to him.

"What you looking at, hey sugar?" Dallas said, glancing over at the spot she was staring out. When he saw nothing, he smirked and grabbed her jaw, leaning down to roughly kiss her. Audrey struggled blindly, trying to pull her hands out of the sheets as his own hands grabbed her shoulders, and slid down to grope her breasts.

"No! No, get off of her!" Vivien shrieked, copying her daughter's movements in trying to free herself of the bindings. Audrey whimpered as his hands slid lower, trying to push themselves between her thighs. But despite her looks, she was much stronger than people thought, and her legs slammed together so fast you could've used them as a cigar cutter. **(Two and a half men reference)**

"Don't be like that, bitch," he grunted against her mouth, one of his hands trying to force her legs open while the other fumbled with the button to his jeans. "We gotta enough time before I have to kill your stupid mama."

"No, please…" Vivien sobbed, tears springing up in her eyes to join those on Audrey's face. Dallas smirked crazily over at Vivien, and staring right into her eyes, crept his hand up to the waistband of Audrey's leggings, hooking his thumb around it to start pulling it down. The other grabbed the knife from his belt and tore down her shirt, revealing her black lacy bra.

"Get you're fucking hands off of her!" Dallas whipped around just in time to see Tate throw his right hook into his face, and he smashed with a loud CRASH! Onto the ground. Tate wasted no time in cutting the bindings from her wrists and ankles.

"Come one, quick!" Tate shouted the moment she was free, and he yanked her after him as he ran towards the kitchen. They could hear Dallas stumbling after them, but all that did was spur Tate on faster. He dragged around the kitchen island, to the small laundry, and shoved her in, slamming the door behind him.

Then he had turned back to her and thrown his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. Her hands fisted at his shirt as he whispered comforting words into her ear like, "Its okay. I won't let him hurt you anymore," and, "I'll kill him if he ever lays another hand on you." But then, as they heard a crash against the door, Tate pulled away from her and clutched urgently at her shoulders.

"You have to get him to the basement!" he whispered loudly. "But don't worry, if you don't want him to see you, he _won't!" _

"No, please don't go," she whispered, her hands clutching at his neck in desperation. "I don't want him to touch me."

"He won't," Tate promised. "I'd rather die before letting him do that to you. But please, just don't let him see you. I don't know what he'd do to you."

Audrey stared at his chest for a moment, her face completely blank before she nodded frantically. But before he could smile and leave she leant up and pressed a small kiss to the corner of his mouth, smiling reassuringly as he turned, wide eyed, and marched out of the door, leaving it open just a crack for her to peek out of. And in her mind all Audrey thought was, _I don't want you to see me. I don't want you to see me. I don't want you to see me. _Over and over and over again.

Suddenly the door slammed open, and Dallas was there, his eyes scanning every inch of the laundry in search for. She was standing right in the middle of the room, but his eyes skimmed over her as though she weren't there. Her breathing only started up again when he turned and walked away, giving her an easy clearance of getting back to her mum.

Audrey raced silently after him, her heart pounding in worry for her mother, and reached the music room to hear him say.

"Your stupid bitch is gone." Taking this to mean he had killed her, Vivien sobbed, just as Dallas placed a necklace over her neck. "I hate these latches," Dallas complained, trying to get a necklace around Vivien's neck. "Too small for my fingers."

There was silence for a moment, when Vivien said, "Let me do it."

Dallas scoffed, and said menacingly, "I got it. Dress-up time. Get up. Don't try anything."

Vivien got to her feet, the clothes in her hand, and asked, "Could you turn around?"

"No."

"Then I will."

Vivien turned slowly around, gently shrugging out of her jacket as Dallas said, "Stupid-looking uniform. I totally get why he hated nurses."

Then suddenly, the twins, who were still standing there, threw their bang snaps across the floor, causing Dallas to slip and smash the side of his head on the coffee table. Seizing her chance, Vivien grabbed the pot they were going to use to hit her, and smashed it down, once, twice, three times on his head. And Audrey had to see her mum.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Audrey gasped, pulling her surprised mother in for a hug that barely lasted a second before they were racing up the stairs looking for Violet. They reached the second story bathroom, had enough time to notice the puddle of blood on the floor, before they were shouting Violet's name over and over again in the hopes that they would find her.

But as they were racing down the stairs, they heard the basement door slam shut, and saw Violet race passed.

"Violet!" They both shouted, and Violet stopped running, waiting for them to catch up. As they reached her side, she latched onto their arms, dragging them without complaint towards the front door. Being the last to leave, Audrey looked back at the room just in time to grin gratefully at the twins, and Tate, who was standing over their shoulders.

**Hey, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a bit fast, and there wasn't much Tate/Audrey, but you have the next chapter to look forwards to for that.**


	5. Home Invasion Part 2

**So yay, fifth chapter is up! Thanks to all those reviewers and followers and stuff. Remember if you have any questions just review or PM me. **

A few days later would find Audrey staring at her ceiling, lying restlessly on her bed in the middle of the night. Ever since their ordeal a few day earlier, she was fairly certain _nobody _had gotten a full night's sleep. Least of all her, when she couldn't stop wondering where the fuck Tate was. She had tried calling to him, but he just wouldn't show up.

Which was why there was another reason she couldn't sleep, because she couldn't get over this crippling worry that something had happened to him. And then she never would have had the chance to say sorry about yelling at him.

Sighing sadly, she rolled over on to her side, her eyes closed as she struggled once more to fall into unconsciousness. But that prickling feeling tingling over her skin continued, and she groaned in annoyance as she rolled back over.

"I know you can hear me Tate," she said in a loud whisper. "Come out and talk to me." She waited a few more moments, hoping he would appear, but when there was no sign of him, she sighed and asked in an almost heartbreaking voice.

"_Please…"_

She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to open them and feel the disappointment that meant he was not there, and brought her knees up to her chest. She buried her face in them, shaking slightly as the hope washed from her, being replaced with different levels of despair.

She was completely surprised, though, when she took a deep breath and moved up, spotting darker patched on her leggings where they had been wet by her tears. And when she saw those, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing freely, flooding down her face in a relentless torrent that wouldn't stop.

"Oh no, please don't!" Tate's voice came from right beside her, and seconds after his arms came up around her shoulders and under knees. He lifted her as easily as if she weighed no more than a feather, and placed her in his crossed legs, keeping her facing him so she could move her arms around him and bury her face in his neck.

"Please don't, Audrey, please don't cry. I'm sorry, okay? I should have come sooner, just please _stop crying!" _His last words were a sob in his throat as he pressed kiss after kiss to her hair. But no matter how many apologies he gave, and how many times he begged her to stop crying, she just couldn't. She couldn't stop the tears from escaping, no matter how much she wanted to.

A good twenty minutes had passed before their tears dried. Tate's dried first, so he just sat with her in his lap whispering sweet nothings in her ear, waiting for her own tears to dry before he even tried having a _real _conversation with her.

But eventually, her shoulders stopped shaking, and her eyes stopped dripping, and she found the courage in herself to pull back from him and stare at the door in shame. She moved out of his lap, not throwing a single glance in his direction, and once more brought her knees up to her chest to hug him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him, and gave a humourless laugh. "You must think I'm so weak."

There was silence. Then…

"No. I don't think that. You're one of the strongest people I know." She gave another breathless laugh, this time in disbelief and not shame, and whipped away the tear tracks under her eyes before turning back to him.

"And why is that?"

Tate took one long hard look at her before responding.

"You went through all that shit with your family before moving here, you always find any way possible you can to make your sister happy, you love your parents more than anything in the world, you make me feel like a real person, you get along with everyone in this house instead of running away screaming, you saved your mum from those people by befriending Troy and Bryan, who by the way, want to talk to you but were waiting for her to feel better, you never complain about anything, you alwa-"

Audrey launched herself across the bed into his arms. She tried to kiss him softly, he could tell that she tried. But her intentions went up in smoke the moment she pressed herself up against him.

There was fire _everywhere, _because _he _was everywhere. His hands traced her skin, burning it. His lips tasted every inch of her face. The mattress slammed into her back as he pressed her down against it. He bit her lip, but there was no pain. She couldn't feel anything besides the burning. Her hands knotted in his hair, pulling him to her as if there were any possible way for them to be closer. Her legs wrapped around his waist, lifting up from the bed and giving her the leverage she needed. His tongue twisted with hers, and there was no part of her mind that was not invaded by the insane desire she possessed.

Her hands fisted around the fabric of Tate's T-shirt, yanking it up. This was their idea; she didn't tell them what to do. His hands burned the skin on her back. She felt the muscles of his stomach under her palms, her hands crushed between them.

She broke away from his mouth to breathe, and his lips scorched their way down her throat. She buried her face in his hair, inhaling the scent.

She shoved her mouth against his one more, gripping his neck tighter with her hands. His lips opened with hers once again, and she felt an odd thrill of success. She caught his lower lip between her teeth and heard a low, wild sound break from his throat in surprise. And then she didn't have to try anymore. One of Tate's hands trapped her face, while the other clamped down on the small of her back, holding her so close that it was hard to pull a breath into her constricted chest. She was gasping, but so was he. She felt him press her closer to the mattress. He used it to bind her even closer. There was not part of her that wasn't fused with him.

It was just the two of them, so close that they hardly counted as two.

Just them.

o.O

Audrey and Violet both quietly came to the kitchen doors, side-stepping two police officers as they walked past. Audrey glanced at them for barely a moment, before turning back to her parents.

"Your mum said that you told her that Tate helped you escape?" Ben said to Audrey, a small smile on his face, despite the disappointment he was feeling inside.

"Yeah," Audrey sighed, then added, "Thanks for not dragging him into all that."

But Ben jumped straight to the point, not beating around the bush. "What was he doing in the house?" he asked.

Audrey glared firmly at him, feeling the anger in her at his implications. "How should I know?" she hissed.

"Audrey-"

"You think I let him in?" Audrey asked, her brow creased in anger. But she knew what would hurt him most. "I don't know why Tate was here," she said. "…But I'm glad he was. You weren't." Then, with Violet following close behind, Audrey stormed passed him. But she stopped for a moment to smile softly at Vivien.

"You were really brave, Mum," she whispered, and only left when she got a small smile back in return.

**I know this was a really short chapter, but I think I made it up to you by adding in a fiery seen between Tate and Audrey. It's not often that I throw in kisses like that, but when I do you'll be sure to enjoy it. But don't be disappointed, of course there'll be small kisses now and then. Thanks for reading and please review. **


	6. Murder House Part 1

**Yay, new chapter! I'm really hoping you are enjoying this so far. And because I'm writing all day every day and only uploading once a day, I'm actually writing this one when I only have two chapters up, so I have no idea how many reviews I have. But either way…**

"I am just horrified for you and your family," Marcy said to Vivien and Audrey, the three women with cups of coffee in their hands as they sat at the kitchen island. "I hardly know what to say, really. And I can just imagine how you might be feeling a little anxious, given all of this."

"Nope, not anxious," Vivien told her, a small smile on her face. "Angry."

Marcy smiled unsurely at her, feeling slightly awkward. "You know that's how I felt when the boys, you know, did what they did. We'd gotten rather close. They'd have me over for Bloody Marys and omelettes on a Sunday. So to find out what nasty little perverts they were- you probably heard about the poker from the fireplace being rammed up his-"

"Marcy, we have to put the house back on the market," Vivien interrupted her before she could say another word. Audrey was frowning in disgust that someone had done that to Patrick.

Vivien continued, "And we have to make back everything we put into it. We just can't afford to take a bath on this."

Marcy opened her mouth, but for a moment no words came out. Then she said, "You know, you might want to adjust your expectations. The housing market is dropping daily. And these things aren't about to change until 2013, when we vote that bum out."

Audrey glanced up in annoyance, and growled out to the woman, "Well, here's the bottom line: you owe our family. Under the law, you were obligated to disclose any material facts that might have influenced our decision to buy this house."

"Excuse me, dear," Marcy said, offended, "but the law requires us to disclose any death on the premises within the last three years. I did that." When Vivien scoffed, she turned to her and said, "Nobody's buying me cooking classes, Mrs. Hormon."

"Harmon," both Vivien and Audrey corrected.

"Nobody's looking out for me. Do you know where I live? I live in a 350-square-foot guest house in Valley Village, with rats. I'd kill to live in this house, regardless of the history. You know, you probably need a more seasoned realtor. Someone who specializes in-"

"Oh, you think you were my first call?" Vivien laughed. "I called every realtor in the city this morning- Coldwellke Banker, Century 21. No one will take this listing. So here's the plan." She stared angrily at the woman.

"You are going to bake cookies, you are going to go buy beautiful, expensive, fresh-cut flowers, you are going to maybe make up some nice stories about all the lovely people who have lived here over the years. You're gonna do whatever it takes and you are gonna sell this house, and then my family and I are gonna go live someplace safe. And in return for that, I am not gonna sue you for gross criminal negligence. We on the same page? Good."

"See?" Audrey smiled. "Somebody's looking out for you."

o.O

As Audrey left the kitchen to do her own thing, she heard a loud knock and a gasp coming from the room around the corner. She stopped, taking a step closer, to hear Moira the housekeeper say, "I thought I'd knock this time so you didn't have a heart attack. Though Lord knows I wish you were dead."

Audrey's eyes widened at this, surprised to hear such a violent thing come from the old woman's mouth.

"Do me a favour, will you?" Constance asked, and Audrey growled softly in anger. "Before I take this one, polish it up. Look, it's cruddy with corrosion. And you know why? Because you're a shitty maid."

"Adding those to your magpie stash?" Audrey heard Moira say.

"Until I have a full set. Then it's off to eBay, where I'll make a pretty penny and you'll be accused of theft," Constance said, and her footsteps could be heard. Audrey looked around the corner for a brief second to see Constance, before she quickly hid again. Constance continued, "You are a thief of biblical proportions, after all. Your specialty being weak husbands."

Audrey jumped in surprise when she heard something smash against the hardwood floor, and Moira cried, "I don't want to be here anymore! I'm frightened! I miss my mother!"

"You think I want to stay in this world of death and rot and regret?" Constance asked in soft surprise. "Try to find some dignity in the situation. Move on, missy!"

"I can't!" Moira wailed. "I want to, but I can't!"

Constance smiled despite herself. "Every time I find my heart breaking just a sliver for you, I suddenly remember, you made this mess for yourself. And I also remember, every time I see that ghostly eye that I was and continue to be," she chuckled, "a hell of a shot."

"You need to pay for what you've done," Moira said in a stronger voice than before.

"Oh, I do. Every goddamn day."

Constance came stomping around the corner, right into Audrey who was standing there with a glare on her face, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, dear," Constance said, trying to put on an innocent act that didn't fool anyone. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

Audrey glared pointedly at the silverware in her hand, her own palm extended to take them back. Constance glared at her, not moving, and stronger and quicker than she expected, Audrey ripped them from her grip, before stalking passed the older woman who was glaring like a little child that hadn't gotten what she wanted.

Audrey turned into the room to see Moira standing their quietly, a hand over her eyes as though she were trying to cover up tears. Audrey moved closer to her, and asked hesitantly,

"Moira?"

The housekeeper let her hand fall, revealing both her normal eye and the scarred white one.

"Yes, dear?" Audrey stepped forwards, and held out the silverware, and Moira smiled softly, "Oh, bless you, dear," she said, taking the silverware in her timeworn hands with a grateful smile. As she was packing them back into the proper cases, Audrey asked softly;

"You're one of them, aren't you?" When Moira didn't answer, Audrey continued, "A ghost?"

Moira didn't look up as she responed, "Of course dear. We ghosts can chose when we want to be seen. I come with the house, therefore I'd like to be seen so I can do my duty. Why do you think that young man, Tate, told you to not be seen?"

Audrey looked at her, confusion evident in her eyes, and when Moira turned to her and noticed, she added, "Oh don't listen to an old woman's rambling on, dear. I'm half out of my mind with age." She smiled and left the room, but Audrey could tell there was a secret she, and many others, were hiding.

o.O

After her brief chat with Moira, Audrey really started to feel the stress piling on top of her. So she did what she always did to calm herself down. Played acoustic guitar, and smoked. And she was doing that just then, outside on one of the walls, relaxing against a beam. But she heard a clatter behind her, only just audible over the guitar riff she was playing, and quickly plucked the fag from between her teeth, putting it out quickly on the bricks.

"Relax," Her father said, coming beside her with a bucket in hand. "I'm not here to bust you."

Audrey looked at him for a moment, surprised by his easy going nature. "Why not?" she asked.

"Because what you guys went through last week can haunt you a long time," Ben answered.

Audrey scoffed, "Seriously, Dad? I'm fine. It'll make a great…college essay one day."

Ben gave a short laugh, before sighing, "Okay. But if you ever want to talk to somebody…"

"Dad."

"I mean, not me," Ben explained, then smiled, "You know, I'm way too expensive. But we can find you someone."

"Okay, thanks," Audrey sighed. "I'll think about it."

Ben smiled, patted her on the knee then as he walked off backwards, pointed at the guitar, "That sounds really good you know." Audrey smiled as he continued walking then turned as she heard a soft rustle behind one of the walls. She looked over and grinned softly as she spotted Tate, grinning back at her with the happiest expression in his eyes. He jumped up beside her, sitting wide ways as he said.

"He's a great dad. He really cares. You're lucky like that."

Audrey nodded and picked up another cigarette, placing it between her teeth and leaning forwards for Tate to light it. He did with an impressed smile, then leant back against with eyes closed as he waited for her to start playing again. She did so, this time finding the rhythm easily. She played the entire guitar piece of Easy Silence, by The Dixie Chicks, the whole time Tate sitting with eyes closed, so relaxed and still he could have been asleep, while her soft voice radiated through the air. She hadn't as much practise with singing, but he would swear to anybody that asked, she sounded like an angel from heaven.

o.O

"Sal Mineo was 37 years old when he died. A Golden Globe winner and two-time Oscar nominee. His father was a coffin-maker who never accepted that his son was gay. They sent away a petty criminal, African-American Lionel Raymond Williams for the murder, calling it a "robbery gone wrong." But you'll have a hard time finding anyone who believes that in this town."

Audrey and Vivien were sat side by side on the 'Eternal Darkness' Tour, listening as the spokesperson, Stan, told them about a man that had been murdered down a street.

"Most people believe Sal Mineo died of a hate crime."

The tour continued, and they visited a few more houses and streets before they were finally led along their street.

"Our tour concludes with one of the most famous houses of horrors in the City of Angels," Stan said. "Better known as the "Murder House." Built in 1922 by Dr. Charles Montgomery- acclaimed surgeon to the stars - for his wife Nora, a prominent East Coast socialite. But when Montgomery fell on hard times, he became addicted to drugs and developed a terrifying Frankenstein complex."

Stan continued, "An estimated two dozen girls went under Dr. Montgomery's knife, thanks to his wife Nora. But the souls of the little ones must have weighed heavily upon them, as their reign of terror climaxed in a shocking finale in 1926."

Audrey was completely shocked, to say the least. She had seen Nora and Charles, their ghosts at least, and had even chatted with the woman. To find out that they had done this sort of thing, it was disgusting.

Vivien jumped to her feet, grabbed Audrey's arm, and dragged her out of the vehicle, towards their house.

"You can't go in there, ladies!" Stan shouted after them, but Vivien just shot back;

"This is my house!"

"Okay."

The door slammed shut behind them, and Audrey immediately turned to her mum, asking, "What's wrong? What was that about?"

Vivien just looked down at her pants, and Audrey's eyes followed hers to see spots of blood on her pants.

"Oh shit," she gasped, "Wait, it's fine, It's just spotting…right?"

Vivien looked urgently at her.

"I don't know."

**So finished Chapter. I know it wasn't much, and I'm trying to get in as many scenes as I can that Audrey can be in. But it gets hard, because I have a certain word limit, and all of them have to reach it or I feel like I've let you lot down. But so far, as I am writing this, I've got 2 reviews, and I uploaded Friday, so that's pretty good, I'm happy about that. Anyway remember to review. **


	7. Murder House Part 2

**New chapter, yay. All I've been doing since Friday is just writing and writing and writing. I think it proves that I really like something when the moment I watch or read it I'm already making up Fanfiction in my head. Well good for you guys, because if this keeps going on you'll always have something to read! Just remember to review and you'll have a constant supply! **

**And also because I'm nice I'm gonna start this chapter off with some Tate/Audrey.**

Tate laughed softly at the look on Audrey's face as she took a tentative taste of the dinner her father had just cooked up. Given it wasn't officially dinner (Vivien would never force this food on her children and leave it at that) she was up in her room, her face scrunched up in disgust. Of all the things her father had to try and make, she didn't expect Chicken Cacciatore to be one of them. It wasn't _completely _terrible, but the moment she took a bite of one of the mushrooms, her gag reflex was activated and she spat it back into the bowl.

"Shut up, you," she muttered to Tate, a blush lighting up her face along with a smile as he continued to shake with laughter. "Fine then," Audrey huffed, and shoved the bowl at him, "You try some."

The amusement was immediately gone, and Tate shook his head frantically, crawling off her bed as fast as he could while she moved after him. He jumped across the room to stand by the window, his eyes wide with terror as she slinked towards him, the bowl in her hands.

"Come on Tate!" She mocked him, "What, are you…chicken?"

Tate glared at her comment, and stormed across the room to snatch the bowl from her hand. "I'm not chicken," he said, took a bite of the cacciatore, and spat it back out. "And neither is this food. What the hell is that!?" Audrey giggled and took the bowl from him, tipping the contents into the bin before turning back to Tate. He was wiping his sleeve back and forth over his mouth, trying to get rid of the taste.

"You're so cute when you're disgusted," Audrey said mildly, collapsing back onto her bed, her arms and legs sprawled out like a star fish. She lifted her head to look at Tate, who was standing at the end of her bed, and gestured for her to come closer.

"Come on," she said, "Get your butt over here."

She let her head flop back onto the pillows, waiting for Tate to join her. She was, however, pleasantly surprised when he crawled across the middle of the bed between her legs, and collapsed on top of her, his hair just tickling her chin. She bent her legs slightly, forcing Tate even closer between her legs, and moved her arms forwards to drape them over his shoulder and back, lifting her head for a moment to press her lips against his hair, before settling back down.

"Audrey?"

"Yeah?"

"What…what do you remember…about that day you tried to overdose?" His voice was hesitant, so quiet, Audrey knew he was ashamed in asking. But she didn't mind, not really.

"Everything was a blur. And everything was fear, just different levels of fear. But the needles made me feel alive, and dead at the same time. It didn't hurt, not like I thought it would. I passed out once I'd gotten halfway through, and I woke up and I couldn't see anything. It was weird. When I got up, I looked down, and it looked like my body was on the ground, but then everything went black again, and I woke up in my bed at home." She gave a soft laugh. "I thought I'd died, you know. But no, there was mum and dad right next to me. Violet was still at school."

Tate had lifted his head to look at her, propped up on his elbows for easier access. Audrey continued though.

"But it was weird. Every time I got more than a couple miles from my family, I'd get this really weird pain, like my heart was being squeezed. And I'd feel sick, and I'd have to turn around and go back to them." She looked down at him. "Isn't that strange."

Tate looked blankly at her, his eyes calculating, and answered, "The strangest."

o.O

Sipping her tea in the living room, Audrey heard the doorbell ring, and her mother get up hesitantly to get it. "Can I help you?" She asked, looking through the peep-hole.

"Are you the woman of the house?" A soft female voice asked, one that Audrey vaguely knew but couldn't recognise from where.

"Are you here to look at the house?" Vivien asked. "Did you have an appointment?"

"Yes."

"…Well, you'll have to call the realtor," Vivien lied.

There was silence for a moment before the woman said, "I can come back another time." It was obvious that she had turned to leave, because Vivien soon shouted after her.

"Wait." There was the sound of a door unlocking, and then footsteps. "My husband's upstairs, so…"

"Oh, this wood- it's so lovely and warm. One almost never sees chestnut anymore." Audrey vaulted upwards, suddenly recognising that voice and ran out of the room to peak down the hallway. Yep, it was Nora. Audrey wondered what the hell she was doing here.

"Yeah, I know," Vivien said slowly, with fake enthusiasm. "I never even knew what kind of wood this was."

Nora ignored her. "And the wainscot here. Louis Comfort Tiffany glass."

"Yes…"

"Inspired by the iridescence of butterfly wings. And look at the blue." She smiled back at Vivien. "Matches my eyes, doesn't it?"

Vivien pretended to look closer, and nodded. "It does." She chuckled, along with Nora, who leant in and said.

"Your eyes are a beautiful blue, too."

"Thank you…."

'And this must be one of the chandeliers imported from his studio in New York," Nora said, looking up at the roof.

"Yes. I looked it up, it's the real deal. The house has four of them," Vivien said strangely, then added, "Would you like to look at the kitchen? It's been modernized quite a bit." She led Nora's forwards, Audrey slowly coming out of the room to join them. Nora took one glance around, and said instantly,

"I don't like this. It's not right. It's not what I want." Then she noticed the Pasta arm over the stove. "What's that device?"

"Oh, this?" Vivien asked. "This is, um, this is a pasta arm. It's-It's, you know, for filling up big pots of water." Noticing her uneasy gaze, Vivien shot Audrey an 'I don't know' look, and said, "I'll tell you what. If you decide you want the house, I will have this removed before you move in."

Nora took another small look around, spotted Audrey, and asked, "Do you think I could have a glass of water?"

"Yeah," Vivien said, trying to hide the worry in her voice. "Or would you like some tea? I-I was making tea before- mint and verbena."

Nora smiled, and gave a small nod, sitting down at the kitchen island by the sink. Audrey took the spot next to her, and when Vivien's back was turned, gave her a small grin, which she returned hesitantly.

But as Vivien put the cups in the microwave, clicked the button, and it started to hum, she groaned in disgust, "Ugh. I would have to get rid of that machine."

"Oh, I know," Vivien agreed. "I'm conflicted about it, too. We are just addicted to our conveniences."

"We?" Nora asked. "Do you have children?"

"Yep. I have two daughters," Vivien said, "That's Audrey next to you. And actually, I'm pregnant at the moment."

"Pregnant?" Nora smiled. "I had a child."

The Microwave beeped, and when she turned to get it, Nora smiled at Audrey and disappeared. Vivien turned back around, saw that she was gone, and looked at Audrey who had a surprised look on her face.

o.O

"So as I mentioned on the phone, the carpet will be steam clean before move in," The Landlady said, leading them through a nice but small apartment. "There's a dock there for your iPod or your iWhatever."

None of the three Harmon women were impressed. But at least Vivien tried, saying, "Uh, well, I'll tell you what I do like. I like that security guy at the door."

"Excuse me," Violet suddenly interrupted, looking blankly at the woman. "Can my family and I have a moment? Alone?"

The woman frowned weirdly at her, and said slowly, "Sure. I'll be in the rental office. I've got someone else coming in 20 minutes."

"Glad we moved all the way to California, since we could be totally anywhere," Audrey sighed.

"I think it has a certain," Vivien started to say, but Violet interrupted, jumping straight to the point.

"You and Dad, both of you- you don't deal with anything. The affair, the miscarriage. For most people that's just life and they deal. But you guys had to uproot everything- drag everyone across the country to start all over-"

"Honey, I don't think you've quite processed what happened to us in that house. That was devastating. That was a nightmare." Vivien huffed as she interrupted once more, while Audrey was just glad she didn't have to say this to her mother herself.

"This place is the nightmare. I love our house, it's got soul. It's where you, Audrey and I kicked some ass, Mom. You say we were victims of something bad there. I say that's the place where we survived."

Vivien sighed softly at her. "I love that you see it that way. I'm pregnant. I can't stay there. This is the decision that your father and I have made for our family together."

"Yeah, whatever," Violet sighed, then with a strong glare threatened, "But I'm telling you, you go ahead with this whacked-out plan and I'm out of here. I will run away. And believe me, I know how to leave so you will never find me."


	8. Halloween Part 1

**New Chapter, and thanks to all those people who have reviewed.**

"I've agreed to this meeting because we need to clarify a few things. Firstly, the psychiatrist that I recommended to you, Dr. Goldman, said you never showed up for the first appointment and you never called to cancel," Ben said to Tate, but he was quick to answer despite the older man's serious tone.

"I don't want to see anyone but you," he said quickly, thinking of how much more difficult it would be to see Audrey. Ben sighed, seeing a challenge coming on.

"We've discussed why that won't work," he said. "Which brings me to my next question. We're very grateful to you, Tate, for how you helped my family. But you need to explain here and now what you were doing in this house at the time of the break-in."

Tate sighed, and lied, "The truth is I was just, like, hanging around outside, and I was, I was throwing pebbles at her, Audrey's, window. But she blew me off. And then I noticed that the door was unlocked, so I went inside. It's not cool, I know."

"I understand," Ben said, completely fooled by Tate's acting. "But this is why I can't treat you. It's inappropriate for everyone concerned."

"I really need your help," Tate suddenly said. "I don't want to be like this. I want to be a good person. And I know that you can help me. You're the one, okay? You're the only one that I can trust." He looked his hands together, pushing them against his forehead, and to make it seem more real, thought of what Dallas did to Audrey. Tears of anger and sadness immediately sprung to his eyes, but they didn't start falling until Ben had spoken.

"I cannot see you in this house." And Ben, spotting the tears and feeling the guilt well up inside of him, sighed and said, "Look, I have an opening. I'll meet you someplace for coffee, but you have to promise me-"

Tate cut him off, saying strongly, "I promise you. Promise. No more weird shit, okay?"

o.O

Audrey stood outside on the porch, her arms crossed as she waited for Chad and Patrick to turn around and see her. She had never seen them outside before, and it was obvious that the neighbours could see them too, because they could hear the two men complaining about the house.

"Ugh! The roses have whitefly," Audrey scoffed inaudibly at his comment. "Jesus, what an eyesore."

"Hi," Vivien said, and Audrey jumped in surprise. She'd had no idea her mum was standing there.

"Hi," they said in unison then Chad stepped forwards. He took his sunglasses from his face, and commented,  
>"Love the house, so much potential."<p>

"Thank you." Vivien smiled. "Are you Marcy's fluffers?"

Taking this as a good front, Chad held out his hand to shake. "I'm Chad Warwick. This is my ball and chain, Patrick."

Vivien smiled. "Welcome."

Audrey glared from Chad to Patrick as they walked passed, but only Patrick stopped to calm her. "Don't worry," he said. "Chad just wanted to decorate the place for Halloween. And he wanted more attention." Audrey grinned, and followed after him back into the house.

o.O

"This is actually kind of fun. I never got to do this when I was a kid," Ben commented in delighted surprise as he carved a pumpkin on the kitchen bench.

"Why not?" Chad asked, and there was silence for a few moments.

"So this is what you guys do for a living," Vivien commented, changing the subject. "That is amazing to me. And wonderful, you know. I think style is so important."

"It's everything," Ben agreed forcefully. "It's so great that I get to help you all have the best Halloween ever. I love Halloween. So does Patrick because the bars are just awash in twinks with six packs in revealing outfits. Isn't that right, Pat? The Abby, The O Bar, Rage. That's where he was last year instead of helping me with the trick-or-treaters."

Patrick scoffed. "Have another drink, dear. Crafting brings out his inner George and Martha."

Vivien opened her mouth, trying to find something less awkward to say, and managed with, "So, in addition to Halloween night and making everything look inviting, which I get, do you guys have any other suggestions for what we might do to the house to make it sell faster?"

"Actually, yes," Chad said. "That gazebo's got to go. The lattice is wrong."

"I agree," Patrick said.

Vivien frowned. "Oh, no, we just put it in." Chad came around to lean against the bench, his glass of wine still in hand as he asked.

"Did you put that gazebo in yourself, Ben?"

Ben glared at him. "Yes."

Chad sighed in disappointment. "Well, let's get through tomorrow night, and then we can tear it down, and put in an organic cutting garden."

Ben turned back to his pumpkin, and carved something forcefully. But seconds later he yelled, "Ow! Shit!"

"Oh, my God!" Vivien and Audrey gasped as they saw the blood welling up on his hand.

"Let me see," Patrick said immediately, pushing passed Vivien to get to his side. He took his hand, pressing a cloth against it.

"I think I'm gonna need stitches," Ben groaned, but Patrick shook his head.

"No. No, it's okay. I can fix this up."

"Pat's an EMT," Chad said sassily, not worried at all. Despite that, Audrey couldn't help but grin at him and his sass.

"Oh, I thought you were a fluffer?" Vivien said, and Chad laughed without humour.

"You're hilarious, Vivien. And I love the hair colour. I can barely see any root."

"It's my natural colour," Vivien said, taking it as a compliment despite his dig at her age.

"Where's your first-aid kit?" Patrick asked.

"Upstairs."

Patrick and Ben disappeared upstairs to the bathroom, while Vivien, Audrey and Chad just continued on with the decorations, moving over to the table to start cutting things out. But Audrey was drawn away when she looked down a hallway and spotted Tate walking passed a doorway.

She excused herself quickly, got to her feet, and with a knowing look from Chad, wondered off down the hall. She looked around again, spotting him turning around the corner of the staircase, and hurried after him. All the signs pointed her towards her room.

She pushed her way through the double doors to her room, and immediately spotted him lying relaxed on her bed, his arms behind his head. His eyes were closed as though he were asleep, but the moment she closed the doors softly behind her, they flew open and he grinned.

"Finally," he said. "I was waiting for ages, for you to leave those guys alone."

"Why?" Audrey asked, and Tate grinned even wider at her, throwing an innocent look onto his face.

"Because I wanted to see you," he answered truthfully, grinning as he patted the spot on the bed beside him. She sighed with a small grin, and crossed the room to lay beside him. His arms immediately circled around her shoulders, pulling her tight against his chest. His fingers came around to curl under her chin, lifting her face up so he could press his lips easily to hers. And just like last time, they caught fire. Gasoline and an open flame.

But is wasn't the sort of kiss she'd had with him before, hungry, wanting and desperate. It wasn't the sort of kiss she'd had with _anyone _before. This kiss was so soft it was like a memory of a kiss, so careful on her lips that it was like someone running his fingers along them. Her mouth parted and stilled; it was so quiet, a whisper, not a shout. Tate's hand touched her neck, thumb pressed into the skin next to her jaw. It wasn't the touch that said _I need more. _It was a touch that said _I want this._

It was all completely soundless. She didn't think either of them were breathing.

o.O

Around twenty minutes after Tate had left, and Audrey had rushed down stairs and back with a snack in hand, she had gotten a good fright by Addy. She had been standing in the mirror, twisting her hair up in all sorts of different ways to get it out of her face. She stepped backwards to get a complete view, when suddenly, a hand wrapped itself around her ankle and she let out a shriek, jumping away.

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat." Audrey growled in annoyance as Adelaide climbed out from under her bed, giggling silently.

"Addy!" She scolded, her hands on her hips with narrowed eyes of anger. Addy didn't notice, just getting to her feet and announcing.

"I want to be a pretty girl, for Halloween!"

Audrey frowned at her. "You want what?"

"Make me a pretty girl," Addy said, "like you, Audrey." She looked at her for a moment, before a grin crawled onto her face. She quickly told the other girl to wait there, before rushing into her mum's room to find all the makeup she could carry. Addy was still waiting, bouncing impatiently in excitement.

Audrey sat her down at the small chair by her dresser, and not bothering with foundation, started with mascara and eyeliner. She then added some nice red lipstick, and had just moved on to the eye shadow when she actually looked at her handiwork.

"…I'm actually not very good at this," she told Addy, smiling though as the girl said.

"I don't care." Addy snuck a look in the mirror, saying, "I'll like it," before Audrey gently grabbed her chin and moved her face back in her direction.

"Close your eyes," she ordered, and a few moments of silence passed while she touched up the eye shadow. But then a question tugged at Audrey's mind, and asked softly, "How old are you, Addy?"

Addy smiled, and held up a chastising finger. "A lady never reveals her age," She said then hesitantly asked, "Is Tate your boyfriend?" Audrey looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Wait. You know Tate?"

"I talk to him when he comes here for his head shrinking," Addy explained. She smiled up at Audrey and said, "He likes you, I can tell. He thinks you're a pretty girl." Audrey couldn't help the soft blush that grew on her face, and to hide it, she grabbed the hairbrush to move around Addy.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Yes," Audrey said, confused by the question, and slightly surprised by the words that came from Addy's mouth. "Aren't you?"

"Hell no!" Addy giggled.

Audrey smiled at her reaction, but she grew serious as she softly said, "You can't keep breaking into our house, Addy."

Addy's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "But I like it here. My friends are here." But her train of thought was diverted as she turned and looked in the mirror.

"Wow!" She gasped, and turned to grin hugely. "Audrey, I'm beautiful!"

**Thanks for reading! Once again, I don't own anyone or anything but Audrey. Thanks for reviewing and keep it up.**


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